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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Subjects
Natural Environment
Animals

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Animals

Subject

Barracluff's Ostrich Farm

Bats

Bray, James Samuel

Felix the cat

Living with sharks on the Georges River

The Cocky Bennett Story

Transcript: Mr George Bates on a chance 'meeting' with Henry Lawson's dog

Transcript: Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers working as a child on a farm in Liverpool

Transcript: Mrs Dorothy Colburn recalls hazards associated with the Georges River

Transcript: Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school

Australian Bird Waltz

Cocky Bennett

Felix the cat

Paracyclotosaurus davidi

Phar Lap

Puppy: Jeff Koons

Royal Intercolonial Rabbit Commission 1888

Alice the elephant

Pteropus poliocephalus

Trim

Acclimatisation Society of New South Wales

Tost & Rohu

Barracluff, Jane

Barracluff, Joseph Thomas

Bennett, George

Coxen, Charles

Grace, Henry Albert

Wolstenholme, Harry

Barracluff's Ostrich Farm

Bullen's Animal World Wallacia

Dee Why Lagoon Wildlife Refuge

Featherdale Wildlife Park

Field of Mars Wildlife Reserve

Glebe Island abattoir

Koala Park Sanctuary

Poultry Research Station Seven Hills

State Abattoirs

Sydney Aquarium

Sydney Wildlife World

Coogee shark net

Robinson's Ladies' Baths

Snake Pit La Perouse

View of old Government House - Sydney - N.S.W. as it appeared when vacated by Sir George Gipps in 1845

'The Inundations at Marrickville: Rescuing the Homeless' May 1889

A Shark Took Beryl Morrin's Arms 1938

A cliff-face stair-way, Darlinghurst c1886

A new labyrinthodont (Paracyclotosaurus) from the upper Trias of New South Wales

Advertisement for W Blyth, Cook, Pastry Cook and Wholesale & Retail Confectioner 1847

Auction sale of Barracluff's Ostrich Farm Estate, Rose Bay Heights, December 1917

Australian prisoners-of-war returning home. Released Eighth Division men coming ashore by barge from the catalinas at Rose Bay 16 September 1945

Barracluff's Ostrich Farm business card c1916

Bats at dusk 2006

Bird's egg c1861

Botany Pleasure Grounds 1855

Cambridge St, looking towards the Argyle Cut 1901

Chicken cholera and the rabbits - experiments at Rodd Island. The apparatus and appliances, with portraits of the experimenters 1888

Cocky Bennett, Sea Breeze Hotel, Tom Uglys Point 1911

Cover of Marcus Clarks' spring & summer catalogue 1926/27

Dancer Paula Pratt and snake expert George Cann at La Perouse 1947

Design for title page of Venomous and Non-Venomous Reptiles of Australia by James S Bray 1897

Detail showing the area around the mouth of the Tank Stream from panoramic view of Sydney 1829

Diamond Snake, Morelia spilotes 1869

Drawn from life by JS Bray, the tiger or brown-banded snake, Hoplocephalus curtus - venomous. Life size. c1890

Eating oysters from the rocks on Clark Island 1870

Elephants from Wirth's Circus on Sydney Harbour Bridge, 3 April 1932

Emu, or 'New genus of Bird at Botany bay 1788'

Excavation of dugong remains at Sheas Creek 1896

Fish hooks of New South Wales and a feather of the cassowary c1789

George Cann - sometimes he finds them hard to handle

George Cann with a bundle of mixed snakes 5 September 1934

George Cann, eyeball to eyeball with a black snake at La Perouse 5 September 1934

George Street looking north, showing Jewish Synagogue, Police Offices, the Markets, old Burial Ground, now the site of the Town Hall, 1842

Government House and part of the town of Sidney, N.S.Wales 1828

Government House c1845

Government House, Sydney 1850

Grey-headed Pteropus, or Flying Fox, 1863.

Grey-headed flying foxes, Royal Botanic Gardens 2008

Harry Wolstenholme at Wahroonga feeding a thrush c1928

Head of black cockatoo, Bantry Bay, Middle Harbour June 1897

Holiday at Taronga: the old days 1918

Horse drawn vehicle in front of Stables, Yaralla estate, Concord West c1910

Immense Increase of Insect Life 5 January 1876

Introduction to The Australian bird waltz 1850-59

Kids & Dogs, Woolloomooloo, Sydney

Lower jaw of Dugong, discovered at Shea's Creek, Sydney, showing Cuts made by Aborigines with Stone Tomahawks 1896

Miles Franklin c1925

Model Shirley Beiger on the cover of PIX 28 April 1951

Mr Barracluff (Junior) gives Denis a ride, South Head 24 December 1905

Mr Ledger's alpacas and llamas at Sophienburg, the seat of Mr. Atkinson, New South Wales c1859

Mr WL Davis, secretary of the Canterbury Park Race Club, and his pet kangaroo at Canterbury Park Racecourse on Eight-Hours Day 2 October 1905

Mrs Onslow and her pet cockatoo, Camden Park, April 1906

Ostrich Farm, Watsons Bay c1910

Ostriches on a farm near Sydney c1905

Pelicans, Cooks River 2005

Picnic on Rodd Island 22 April 1948

Plague Proclamation poster, 1 February 1905

Princess Alice at Wirth's Bros Circus in Sydney 1938

Ribs of Dugong, discovered at Shea's Creek, showing Cuts made by Aborigines with Stone Tomahawks 1896

Schnapper, Chrysophrys guttulatus (Cur. and Val.) c1790

Sighting a kangaroo, detail from the Captain Cook window at Cranbrook, Bellevue Hill

Sir Edward Hallstrom, with a koala at Taronga Park Zoo 1964

Skeleton of the Dugong found at Shea's Creek 1896

Skull of Dugong, discovered at Shea's Creek, Sydney 1896

Sunday 23.8.91 Sea eagle's nest in a red gum tree

Ted Bailey and his Posing Dogs 1913

The Australian Bird Waltz 1850-59

The Battle of Berry's Bay - a battle with sharks in Sydney Harbour 7 March 1886

The Bird That Does Not Bury Its Head In The Sand 1920

The Bubonic Plague - Wash and Pray! April 1900

The Dainty Swallowtail (Papilio Anactus, Macleay) butterfly and caterpillar. Food-plant: Citrus aurantium 1890s

The Duke and Duchess, Barracluff's Ostrich Farm, South Head c1906

The Flying Fox ( Pteropus Poliocephalus ) 1869

The Hero of Coogee Beach 1922

The Kangaroo 1788

The Modern St Patrick: or, Parkes's 'Man-Goose' at the Museum, 22 February 1868

The Rabbit Plague and Anthrax in Australia; M. Pasteur's experiments and remedies for its extermination November 1891

The bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas 2014

The caretaker of Canterbury Park Racecourse and his pets 1897

The catodon polka c1850

The first Coogee shark net, December 1922

View in the Cowpasture district 1840-46

View of Harbour and Governor Bourke's Statue 1842

Zoo keeper with quolls Taronga Zoo c1916

the swan of Auburn, Auburn 2009

George Bates recalls the day when he buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog in North Sydney c1929, interviewed 1986

Max Solling on Wentworth Park Racecourse 2009

Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers working as a child on a farm in Liverpool c1910-1925, interviewed in 1986

Mrs Dorothy Colburn, interviewed in 1986, recalls hazards associated with the Georges River in the 1930s

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school in the early 20th century, interviewed in 1986

Retired wharf labourer Harry Black talking about transporting circus elephants in the 1950s

Thelma Crawley on delivering Meals on Wheels to Rosaleen Norton, the 'Witch of Kings Cross' 2007

Tim Pearson on Sydney's bats 2009

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Animals

Barracluff's Ostrich Farm

In 1889 the enterprising Joseph Barracluff and his wife Jane established an ostrich farm at South Head. Over the years Barracluff's farm became a well-known tourist destination where patrons could select feathers to be cut directly from the flock. The business thrived until the outbreak of World War I, when the demand for ostrich feathers declined.

Bats

Sydney's evening skies contain flights of massed grey-headed flying foxes, the fruit bats that live in great numbers in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Gordon, Cabramatta and other pockets of bush across the city.

Bray, James Samuel

A local character for nearly 50 years, James Samuel Bray was an amateur naturalist, prolific author and erratic entrepreneur in late-colonial Sydney. Despite representing the colony at exhibitions as far afield as Melbourne and Calcutta, Bray perennially skirted the edges of scientific and social respectability. Often ostracised in life, and soon forgotten after his death, he nevertheless embodied the 'antiquarian imagination' that took root in the Australian colonies from the 1870s until World War I.

Felix the cat

Possibly the first animated celebrity, drawn by Pat Sullivan, born Patrick O'Sullivan in Sydney.

Living with sharks on the Georges River

Shark attacks were recorded in Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River from 1791 onwards. Early diarists remarked on the ' voracious fury' of these 'terrible fish' and the 'horror' that Aboriginal people, so accustomed to river life, experienced on encountering sharks. Yet river swimming has a long history in Sydney's recreational culture, with estuaries like the lower Georges River and Botany Bay much more likely to be the scene of horrendous events than ocean beaches.

The Cocky Bennett Story

Cocky Bennett was a remarkably long-lived cockatoo who spent his early years sailing the South Seas with his friend and keeper, Captain Ellis. At age 78, after Ellis's death, Cocky took up residence at the Sea Breeze Hotel at Tom Ugly's Point in Blakehurst where he entertained locals from his cage on the front verandah until 1915 when Ellis's niece died. He spent his final years with Ellis's grandnephew at the Woolpack Hotel, in Canterbury, delighting his new friends with his colourful and excessive chatter. He died in 1916 aged 119 years.

Transcript: Mr George Bates on a chance 'meeting' with Henry Lawson's dog

Mr George Bates, born in 1912, interviewed in 1986 for the Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960 project, talks about a chance 'meeting' with Henry Lawson's dog in North Sydney during his childhood.

Transcript: Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers working as a child on a farm in Liverpool

Mr Joseph Bradshaw was born in 1905 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. He remembers here the work of a child on general mixed farms in the area.

Transcript: Mrs Dorothy Colburn recalls hazards associated with the Georges River

Mrs Dorothy Colburn, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, recalls hazards associated with the Georges River

Transcript: Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school

Mrs Evelyn Chapple was born in 1896 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers hazards encountered while walking to school.

Australian Bird Waltz

full record »

Composition by Frederick Ellard that is possibly the first published piece of music based on an Australian bird call.

Cocky Bennett

full record »

Sulphur-crested cockatoo who lived at various hotels around Sydney for decades after his first owner, Captain Ellis, died. It was reputed to be 119 years old when it died.

Felix the cat

full record »

Cartoon character credited to Sydney-born artist Pat Sullivan. There is some debate as to whether the character was actually created by Otto Mesmer, another animator in Sullivan's American studio.

Paracyclotosaurus davidi

Giant salamander-like labyrinthodont amphibian from the Triassic period which lived in lakes in the Sydney basin. A complete fossil skeleton was found in the St Peters brick pits in 1910 and is now in the Natural History Museum, London.

full record »

Phar Lap

full record »

Champion racehorse, trained by Sydney trainer Harry Telford.

Puppy: Jeff Koons

full record »

Temporary public artwork created by American artist Jeff Koons that was exhibited in the forecourt of the Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay from 12 December 1995 until 17 March 1996. A 12.4 metre high structure in the shape of a terrier that was then filled with soil and flowering plants, it was the tenth work supported by Kaldor Public Art Projects.

Royal Intercolonial Rabbit Commission 1888

Inquiry established 1888 to investigate whether introducing disease into rabbits for the purpose of destroying them would endanger human or animal life.

full record »

Alice the elephant

full record »

Asian female elephant who arrived in Australia with Bostock & Wombwell's travelling menagerie in 1905. After being sold in 1907 she became a major attraction at Wonderland City where she was billed as 'an elephant in a thousand' and 'the children's friend'. She was the subject of a weight-guessing competition and carried a couple in an 'Oriental marriage celebration' witnessed by 30,000 people. In 1908 she was sold to Wirth's Circus and renamed Princess Alice. She travelled the country with the circus until her death in Melbourne in 1941.

Pteropus poliocephalus

full record »

The grey-headed flying fox is a large native fruit bat that lives in large groups across Sydney and along the eastern coast of Australia. Listed as a vulnerable species as their numbers are declining due to clearing of their habitat.

Trim

Matthew Flinders' cat, who accompanied the navigator on his voyages to Australia and Mauritius. During the circumnavigation of Australia in 1801-03, Flinders' noted his feline companion formed a bond with fellow shipmate and Garigal man, Bungaree. After departing for England aboard HMS Porpoise, the ship wrecked off the Wreck Reefs and the crew survived aboard a cutter and sailed back to Sydney. On his way back to England again, Flinders was arrested and imprisoned by French authorities in Mauritius. During his imprisonment a French woman offered to care for Trim. Within two weeks, a public gazette declared Trim had been lost. Flinders' tribute described him as 'the best and most illustrious of his Race, the most affectionate of friends, faithful of servants, and best of creatures.'

full record »

Acclimatisation Society of New South Wales

Society established to procure, introduce and acclimatise exotic species of flora and fauna to a perceived alien landscape. Whilst this was a two way process, for example black swans to England, red deer and even boa constrictor were imported to Australia to augment the rabbits, goat and pigs that had come with the First Fleet.

full record »

Tost & Rohu

full record »

Taxidermy business run by mother and daughter Jane Tost and Ada Rohu which also sold an eclectic mix of furs, stuffed animals, and Aboriginal and Islander artefacts. They won over 20 medals for their work.

Barracluff, Jane

Joint owner of the family ostrich farm who supervised the production of ostrich products.

full record »

Barracluff, Joseph Thomas

Shopkeeper who established the first ostrich farm in New South Wales.

full record »

Bennett, George

Physician and naturalist whose interest in the unique flora and fauna in Australia lead him to establish his medical practice in the colony.

full record »

Coxen, Charles

Naturalist who travelled for months collecting specimens of Australian fauna which provided the stimulus for the expedition of John Gould in 1838-40. He later became a politician in Queensland.

full record »

Grace, Henry Albert

Dedicated bird watcher from Jannali known as the Birdman. He constructed elaborate whistles to replicate bird calls.

full record »

Wolstenholme, Harry

full record »

Amateur ornithologist and lawyer.

Barracluff's Ostrich Farm

full record »

Farm in Dover Heights where ostriches were reared to provide feathers for the fashion industry.

Bullen's Animal World Wallacia

Animal theme park opened by the Bullen circus family in 1968.

full record »

Dee Why Lagoon Wildlife Refuge

Wetland and coastal dune area, significant for local and migratory birds.

full record »

Featherdale Wildlife Park

Wildlife sanctuary and tourist destination at Doonside which also participates in an extensive captive breeding program.

full record »

Field of Mars Wildlife Reserve

Reserve in northern Sydney measuring 56 hectares and containing around 300 plant species which support an even greater diversity of animals, from spiders to possums and birds.

full record »

Glebe Island abattoir

Slaughterhouse on Glebe Island from the 1830s until 1915. The abattoir attracted related smelly industries and contributed to the noxious pollution of the bay, but provided fresh meat for Sydney.

full record »

Koala Park Sanctuary

Wildlife sanctuary founded by Noel Burnet at West Pennant Hills in the 1920s and still managed by the family.

full record »

Poultry Research Station Seven Hills

Experimental poultry breeding farm from the early 1900s, which became part of a soldier settlement poultry farming scheme after World War I, with some five-acre lots and a breeding facility. After the failure of the scheme, the Government Poultry Farm continued with experimental breeding, becoming an agricultural research station.

full record »

State Abattoirs

Abattoirs developed at Lidcombe to replace the public abattoir at Glebe which featured prominently in the Royal Commission into Noxious and Offensive Trades in 1882. They were closed in 1988 and much of the site was redeveloped as Sydney Olympic Park.

full record »

Sydney Aquarium

Aquarium and tourism complex at Darling Harbour.

full record »

Sydney Wildlife World

Tourist showcase for Australia's wildlife at Darling Harbour.

full record »

Coogee shark net

full record »

Shark net which was built after the construction of Coogee Pier. It cost 6,750 pounds to build and stretched halfway across the bay and was attached to one of the pylons of the pier. The opening coincided with the unveiling of Giles' Ocean Baths and new surf sheds and attracted a crowd of 135,000 people. Within four months, the number of bathers had reached 800,000. Floodlights were installed and night surfing attracted 20,000 to 30,000 a night. The net fell into disrepair during World War II and was dismantled.

Robinson's Ladies' Baths

Small swimming baths for women established by Thomas Robinson on the western side of Woolloomooloo Bay, south of the Gentlemen's Baths.

full record »

Snake Pit La Perouse

Enclosure established at La Perouse about 1909 where a man would handle snakes to educate and entertain weekend visitors.

full record »

View of old Government House - Sydney - N.S.W. as it appeared when vacated by Sir George Gipps in 1845

full record »

By

George Edwards Peacock

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

'The Inundations at Marrickville: Rescuing the Homeless' May 1889

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.news-page5789381]

(Illustrated Sydney News, 6 June 1889 p 14)

A Shark Took Beryl Morrin's Arms 1938

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[PIX, 14 May 1938 p15, via Trove]

A cliff-face stair-way, Darlinghurst c1886

full record »

By

Frederic B Schell

Contributed By

Internet Archive

[australasiaillus01garruoft_0225]

(From 'Australasia illustrated' edited by Andrew Garran ; illustrated by leading Australian and American artists, under the supervision of Frederic B. Schell, with over eight hundred engravings on wood, Sydney : Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co., 1892)

A new labyrinthodont (Paracyclotosaurus) from the upper Trias of New South Wales

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By

David Meredith Seares Watson

Contributed By

Internet Archive

(A new labyrinthodont (Paracyclotosaurus) from the upper Trias of New South Wales, by David Meredith Seares Watson FRS, Trustees of the British Museum ,Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology, Vol 3 No 7, London 1958, pp233-263)

Advertisement for W Blyth, Cook, Pastry Cook and Wholesale & Retail Confectioner 1847

full record »

By

John Carmichael

Image courtesy of the

State Library of Victoria

[RARELT 058.944 L95]

(from 'Low's Directory of the city and district of Sydney for MDCCCXLVII', by Francis Low, Sydney 1847 , opp p 19)

Auction sale of Barracluff's Ostrich Farm Estate, Rose Bay Heights, December 1917

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Australian prisoners-of-war returning home. Released Eighth Division men coming ashore by barge from the catalinas at Rose Bay 16 ...

full record »

Image courtesy of the

State Library of Victoria

[Acc No: H98.103/4220]

(Argus Newspaper Collection of Photographs)

Barracluff's Ostrich Farm business card c1916

full record »

Contributed By

Private collection

Bats at dusk 2006

full record »

By

Contributed By

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/83823904@N00/132773388/]

Bird's egg c1861

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1095002 / PXA 21, 6]

(from 'Drawings of bird's eggs to illustrate a proposed work on oology by EP Ramsay with other natural history drawings by Helena Scott and Harriet Scott' c1861) (Mitchell Library)

Botany Pleasure Grounds 1855

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Illustrated Sydney News, 30 June 1855)

Cambridge St, looking towards the Argyle Cut 1901

full record »

By

Contributed By

Art Gallery of New South Wales

[Accession No: 5859]

...

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Australian Town and Country Journal, September 22, 1888, p599))

Cocky Bennett, Sea Breeze Hotel, Tom Uglys Point 1911

full record »

Image courtesy of the

State Library of Victoria

[Acc No:H23120]

Cover of Marcus Clarks' spring & summer catalogue 1926/27

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ML Q381.14102/1 ]

(Mitchell Library)

Dancer Paula Pratt and snake expert George Cann at La Perouse 1947

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[PIX, 22 February 1947, p8 via Trove]

(Asked for something different as a cabaret turn, Paula Pratt agreed to do a snake dance, faced problem of buying a snake. She went to La Perouse (near Sydney), where snake expert George Cann of Taronga Park Zoo sold her a 7ft diamond snake for 25/-. She named him Algie, trained him as her dancing partner.)

Design for title page of Venomous and Non-Venomous Reptiles of Australia by James S Bray 1897

full record »

By

James Samuel Bray

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[c004220003 / PXA 192]

(from James Samuel Bray pictorial collection c1876-1897, Item 06: Album including drawings of cultural artefacts, fish, and snakes, 1876-1897, Mitchell Library)

Detail showing the area around the mouth of the Tank Stream from panoramic view of Sydney 1829

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Key:- 27: St Phillips; 28: Sydney Hotel; 29: Chief Justices; 30: Colonial Secretary's; 31: Orphan School; 32: Sydney Gazette Office; 33: Military Hospital; 34: Fort Philip; 35: Blue Mountains; 36: Mr Underwood's; 37: Bank of Australia; 38: Gaol; 39: Australian Agricultural Company; 40: Governor's House; 41: Commissariat store, Kings Wharf & Dock

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Panorama of Sydney, NSW, in the year 1829 as painted by Robert Burford and exhibited in Leicester Square, London, DG XV1A / 2 (detail)]

(Dixson Galleries)

Diamond Snake, Morelia spilotes 1869

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a034001 / DL Q86/44]

(Plate I, from 'The snakes of Australia : an illustrated and descriptive catalogue of all the known species' by Gerard Krefft, Sydney : Thomas Richards, Government Printer, 1869) (Dixson Library)

Drawn from life by JS Bray, the tiger or brown-banded snake, Hoplocephalus curtus - venomous. Life size. c1890

full record »

By

James Samuel Bray

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[c004220010 / PXA 192]

(from James Samuel Bray pictorial collection c1876-1897, Item 06: Album including drawings of cultural artefacts, fish, and snakes, 1876-1897, Mitchell Library)

Eating oysters from the rocks on Clark Island 1870

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a3449002 / ML 3]

(Detail from 'A day's picnic on Clark Island 1870') (Mitchell Library)

Elephants from Wirth's Circus on Sydney Harbour Bridge, 3 April 1932

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[hood_05793 / Home and Away - 5793]

(Mitchell Library)

Emu, or 'New genus of Bird at Botany bay 1788'

full record »

By

Arthur Bowes Smyth

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a604005 / Safe 1/15]

(from Arthur Bowes Smyth - drawings from his journal `A Journal of a Voyage from Portsmouth to New South Wales and China in the Lady Penrhyn ...', 1787-1789) (Mitchell Library)

Excavation of dugong remains at Sheas Creek 1896

full record »

Contributed By

Australian Museum

(Courtesy Australian Museum Archives) (On the left is WS Dun, government palaeontologist; to his right supervising operations is Australian Museum Director Robert Etheridge. The other men are possibly JW Grimshaw and TW Edgeworth David)

Fish hooks of New South Wales and a feather of the cassowary c1789

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a2089433 / MRB/ Q991/ 2A2]

(from 'Journal of a voyage to New South Wales : with sixty-five plates of non descript animals, birds, lizards, serpents, curious cones of trees and other natural productions' by John White, London : Printed for J. Debrett, 1790 Mitchell Library)

George Cann - sometimes he finds them hard to handle

full record »

By

Victor Johnston

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Australasian photo-review, June 1951 p345 via Trove]

George Cann with a bundle of mixed snakes 5 September 1934

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Home and Away - 392]

(Mitchell Library)

George Cann, eyeball to eyeball with a black snake at La Perouse 5 September 1934

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Home and Away - 392]

(Mitchell Library)

George Street looking north, showing Jewish Synagogue, Police Offices, the Markets, old Burial Ground, now the site of the Town Hall, ...

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[DG SV* / Sp Coll / Rae / 7]

(Dixson Galleries)

Government House and part of the town of Sidney, N.S.Wales 1828

full record »

By

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[PIC Solander Box A32 #T69 NK12/31]

Government House c1845

full record »

By

Frederick Garling

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a128348 / ML 70]

Government House, Sydney 1850

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Grey-headed Pteropus, or Flying Fox, 1863.

full record »

Image courtesy of the

State Library of Victoria

Grey-headed flying foxes, Royal Botanic Gardens 2008

full record »

By

Contributed By

Private collection

Harry Wolstenholme at Wahroonga feeding a thrush c1928

full record »

By

Alec Hugh Chisholm

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.pic-vn3796874]

(Part of GM Mathews collection of portraits of ornithologists)

Head of black cockatoo, Bantry Bay, Middle Harbour June 1897

full record »

By

James Samuel Bray

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[c004260025 / PXA 194 ]

(from James Samuel Bray pictorial collection c1876-1897, Item 08: Album including drawings of cultural artefacts, fish, and snakes, 1890-1897 )

Holiday at Taronga: the old days 1918

full record »

By

Harold Cazneaux

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

Cazneaux family

[nla.pic-an2384434]

Horse drawn vehicle in front of Stables, Yaralla estate, Concord West c1910

full record »

By

Samuel George Spink

Courtesy Canada Bay Connections,

City of Canada Bay Library

(Photograph from an album of photographs by Samuel Spink held by City of Canada Bay Museum. )

Immense Increase of Insect Life 5 January 1876

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Evening News, 5 January 1876, p2 via Trove]

Introduction to The Australian bird waltz 1850-59

full record »

By

Frederick Ellard

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.mus-an10041000-s2]

(Published by Woolcott & Clarke, Sydney 185-)

Kids & Dogs, Woolloomooloo, Sydney

full record »

By

©

Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive

Lower jaw of Dugong, discovered at Shea's Creek, Sydney, showing Cuts made by Aborigines with Stone Tomahawks 1896

full record »

Contributed By

Internet Archive

[mobot31753002624135_0455]

(Plate Xa, 'On the occurrence of a submerged forest, with remains of the Dugong, at Shea's Creek near Sydney' by R Etheridge, Junr, Professor TW Edgeworth David, BA, FGS, and HW Grimshaw, M Inst CE, Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol 30, 1896, p 158)

Miles Franklin c1925

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[PX*D 250 (v.1), 80]

(Mitchell Library)

Model Shirley Beiger on the cover of PIX 28 April 1951

full record »

Attractive 19 year old model Shirley Beiger, of Redfern NSW, proudly holds three prize wire-haired terrier pups for which offers up to 84 pounds have been refused. Bred from champion parents in England, the pups had been in Australia only a few weeks when this picture was taken. Mr Tom Powell, owner of Grendon Kennels, Sydney, who imported the pups from England, believes they are the only prize pups of their type in Australia, says they are 'not for sale at any price'.

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[PIX 28 April 1951 via Trove]

Mr Barracluff (Junior) gives Denis a ride, South Head 24 December 1905

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a3301044 / PX*D 578. 1567]

(Album 36: Photographs of the Allen family, 15 October 1905 - 1 April 1906) (Mitchell Library)

Mr Ledger's alpacas and llamas at Sophienburg, the seat of Mr. Atkinson, New South Wales c1859

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Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.obj-136096736]

(Published Illustrated London News, 14 December 1861)

Mr WL Davis, secretary of the Canterbury Park Race Club, and his pet kangaroo at Canterbury Park Racecourse on Eight-Hours Day 2 ...

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Australian Town and Country Journal, 11 October 1905, p39)

Mrs Onslow and her pet cockatoo, Camden Park, April 1906

full record »

By

Arthur Wigram Allen

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a3276008 / PX*D 579, 4, 1705]

(Album 37: Photographs of the Allen family, 7 April 1906 - 12 November 1906, Mitchell Library)

Ostrich Farm, Watsons Bay c1910

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a106360 / PXA 635, 937]

(Mitchell Library)

Ostriches on a farm near Sydney c1905

full record »

By

Underwood & Underwood Publisher

Contributed By

Private collection

Pelicans, Cooks River 2005

full record »

By

Contributed By

Marrickville Council Library and History Services

[File: 002\002495]

Picnic on Rodd Island 22 April 1948

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[hood_23933 / Home and Away 23933]

(Mitchell Library)

Plague Proclamation poster, 1 February 1905

full record »

Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

[CGS 4917, [SR Document 31]]

Princess Alice at Wirth's Bros Circus in Sydney 1938

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Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[PIX Vol 1 No. 15 (7 May 1938), p47 via Trove]

Ribs of Dugong, discovered at Shea's Creek, showing Cuts made by Aborigines with Stone Tomahawks 1896

full record »

Contributed By

Internet Archive

[mobot31753002624135_0456.jpg]

(Detail of Plate XI, 'On the occurrence of a submerged forest, with remains of the Dugong, at Shea's Creek near Sydney' by R Etheridge, Junr, Professor TW Edgeworth David, BA, FGS, and HW Grimshaw, M Inst CE, Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol 30, 1896, p 158)

Schnapper, Chrysophrys guttulatus (Cur. and Val.) c1790

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By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[SAFE/PXD 18, Collection 23, 18]

(Mitchell Library)

Sighting a kangaroo, detail from the Captain Cook window at Cranbrook, Bellevue Hill

full record »

Contributed By

Private collection

(By kind permission of the Baglin estate)

Sir Edward Hallstrom, with a koala at Taronga Park Zoo 1964

full record »

By

James (Jim) Fitzpatrick

Contributed By

National Archives of Australia

[A1200 / L47870]

Skeleton of the Dugong found at Shea's Creek 1896

full record »

Contributed By

Internet Archive

[mobot31753002624135_0457]

(Plate XIa, 'On the occurrence of a submerged forest, with remains of the Dugong, at Shea's Creek near Sydney' by R Etheridge, Junr, Professor TW Edgeworth David, BA, FGS, and HW Grimshaw, M Inst CE, Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol 30, 1896, p 158)

Skull of Dugong, discovered at Shea's Creek, Sydney 1896

full record »

Contributed By

Internet Archive

[mobot31753002624135_0454]

(Plate X, 'On the occurrence of a submerged forest, with remains of the Dugong, at Shea's Creek near Sydney' by R Etheridge, Junr, Professor TW Edgeworth David, BA, FGS, and HW Grimshaw, M Inst CE, Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol 30, 1896, p 158)

Sunday 23.8.91 Sea eagle's nest in a red gum tree

full record »

By

James Samuel Bray

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[c004090048 / PXA 188]

(from James Samuel Bray pictorial collection c1876-1897, Item 02: Original drawings, [1886-1892])

Ted Bailey and his Posing Dogs 1913

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From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(The Referee, 12 November 1913)

The Australian Bird Waltz 1850-59

full record »

By

Frederick Ellard

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.mus-an10041000-s3]

(Published by Woolcott & Clarke, Sydney 185-)

The Battle of Berry's Bay - a battle with sharks in Sydney Harbour 7 March 1886

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Illustrated Sydney News, 15 April 1886, p12)

The Bird That Does Not Bury Its Head In The Sand 1920

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Sunday Times, 19 September 1920, p18 (via Trove)]

The Bubonic Plague - Wash and Pray! April 1900

full record »

By

Livingston Hopkins

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[The Bulletin, 14 April 1900, p17 via Trove]

The Dainty Swallowtail (Papilio Anactus, Macleay) butterfly and caterpillar. Food-plant: Citrus aurantium 1890s

full record »

By

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Nef 595.780994 S425, Pl 16 (detail)]

(from 'Australian lepidoptera and their transformations' Vol. II, drawn from the life by Harriet and Helena Scott ; with descriptions, general and systematics by A.W. Scott, London : Sydney : John van Voorst, Printed by order of the Trustees 1890-1898)

The Duke and Duchess, Barracluff's Ostrich Farm, South Head c1906

full record »

Contributed By

National Museum of Australia

[1986.0117.3782]

The Flying Fox ( Pteropus Poliocephalus ) 1869

full record »

By

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[AUSLEF NLef 599 KRE]

('From a photograph from life by Victor A Prout', Plate 1 in 'The Mammals of Australia', illustrated by Harriett Scott and Helena Forde for the Council of Education ; with a short account of all the species hitherto described by Gerard Krefft, Sydney : Government Printer, 1871)

The Hero of Coogee Beach 1922

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[The School Magazine, Part III for Class VI, May 1 1922, p1 via Trove]

The Kangaroo 1788

full record »

By

Arthur Bowes Smyth

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a604004 / Safe 1 / 15]

(from Arthur Bowes Smyth - drawings from his journal `A Journal of a Voyage from Portsmouth to New South Wales and China in the Lady Penrhyn ...', 1787-1789) (Mitchell Library)

The Modern St Patrick: or, Parkes's 'Man-Goose' at the Museum, 22 February 1868

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Sydney Punch, 22 February 1868, p 95)

The Rabbit Plague and Anthrax in Australia; M. Pasteur's experiments and remedies for its extermination November 1891

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.news-page4848115 via Trove]

('The Rabbit Plague and Anthrax in Australia; M. Pasteur's experiments and remedies for its extermination', Illustrated Sydney News, 21 November 1891, p12)

The bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas 2014

full record »

©

New South Wales Department of Trade and Investment Regional Infrastructure and Services

[Identifying Sharks]

(State of New South Wales through Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services)

The caretaker of Canterbury Park Racecourse and his pets 1897

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[TN83]

(Australian Town and Country Journal, 10 April 1897, p26 (detail))

The catodon polka c1850

full record »

By

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.mus-an11032321]

(And most respectfully dedicated to William Sheridan Wall, Esq. Curator, Australian Museum Published: Sydney : G.W. Hudson, (between 1845 and 1859))

The first Coogee shark net, December 1922

full record »

By

Arthur Ernest Foster

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a6415019 / ON 30/Box 55 No 675]

(Mitchell Library)

View in the Cowpasture district 1840-46

full record »

By

Robert Marsh Westmacott

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.pic-an3706239]

View of Harbour and Governor Bourke's Statue 1842

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Zoo keeper with quolls Taronga Zoo c1916

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a2809025 / a2809 Online, 25]

(Mitchell Library)

the swan of Auburn, Auburn 2009

full record »

By

© www.52suburbs.com.au

George Bates recalls the day when he buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog in North Sydney c1929, interviewed 1986

full record »

Mr George Bates, born in 1912, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project recalls the day during his childhood when he buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog, in North Sydney c1929.
Transcript

GEORGE: I was unfortunately taken to an orphanage at Baulkham Hills and after a given time, as I'd just gone six or seven years old, after spending three years in the orphanage there I was taken back to the grandparents in North Sydney, and educated by the Marist Brothers in North Sydney.

Whilst at North Sydney I used to get attached to a particularly old lady in West St, North Sydney, as she'd see me going to school in Ridge St, North Sydney, and she said 'Would you mind George when you're coming after school, bury the old dog', and I said 'No, I don't mind at all.'

So after school I came to her house in West St and she said 'Just under the tree there' and she had an apple for me, and she said 'When you bury that dog George, you'll have the great distinction when you grow into manhood, you have just buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog'.

It was a great privilege to think that, and I've thought of it ever since. I was a school boy as I call myself, buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with George Bates, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Max Solling on Wentworth Park Racecourse 2009

full record »

Historian Max Solling describes the rise and fall of greyhound racing, 'sport of the masses', at Wentworth Park racecourse.

By

Courtesy:

City of Sydney Council

(From the oral history collection)

Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers working as a child on a farm in Liverpool c1910-1925, interviewed in 1986

full record »

Mr Joseph Bradshaw was born in 1905 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960 ' project. He remembers here the work of a child on general mixed farms in the area.
Transcript

JOSEPH: There was myself and Chris, we ran the dairy. I was only a kid at the time and there were two families. One was the Allcock family, they had a dairy out farther than us. In combination of the two families we ran a milk run in Liverpool, you know, with the horse and cart. And I used to have to go when I became eight or ten - Chris my sister was about eight years older than me - and between us we delivered milk in the morning and I think at that time we had around thirty cows, which was a lot of stock.

INTERVIEWER: So what time would you have to get up to milk the cows?

JOSEPH: 5 o'clock!

INTERVIEWER: Milk them and then deliver the milk?

JOSEPH: Yes, deliver the milk, then go home and go to school.

INTERVIEWER: And what about when you came home?

JOSEPH: Same, in the afternoon, but most of the afternoon milk was fed to the pigs - we had pigs as well.

In 1917, it was Good Friday. I'd been away, I was twelve years old at that time. We used to do a lot of rabbiting in those days, it was real bush country, and I come home and my dad had a heart attack and died. From then on I was the man of the house. We had cattle to look after, horses, and we had a lot of poultry as well; a few pigs. It was a general mixed farm, which was the general thing in those days because that was people's way of life, living, other than in the city, and I might add at this stage Liverpool only had a population in these days of something like twelve thousand.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Joseph Bradshaw, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Dorothy Colburn, interviewed in 1986, recalls hazards associated with the Georges River in the 1930s

full record »

Mrs Dorothy Colburn, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project, recalls hazards associated with the George's River.

Transcript

DOROTHY: We use to have to stand on the river bank and coo-ee to the relations that lived on the other side for them to bring the boat over to us. But when they started to build the first Milperra Bridge, I walked across a plank that wide [showing how wide] that the workmen used to use and I wasn't game to look down, just hung onto the back of Dad's shirt. That was just after a young chap was taken by a shark by the side of the river.

INTERVIEWER: When would that have been, do you recall?

DOROTHY I can't tell you exactly the year, somewhere around '29. He dived off the other side of the river, and he was mauled dreadfully; and the same day, my cousin's friend, used to ride the horses to school with her, her arms were chopped off, one just above the elbow and the other one just below the elbow and they thought it was the same shark. She had been in swimming at Kentucky, what they called Kentucky. It's just past where the aerodrome is now, where the golf links is. She'd been lying up on the bank in the sand, and her mother woke her up - she'd gone to sleep - woke her up, and said 'Come on, we're going home' and she said 'Well I can't get in the car like this' 'cause she had all sand on her, and she went down and stood in water no higher than her knees and swished her arms and he grabbed both arms. They reckon he come up out of the water. And he took both her arms. She's married and got a family, living up Newcastle way, somewhere there. She was marvellous, didn't seem to stop her, she still rode the horses, and she wouldn't let anyone help her.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Dorothy Colburn, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school in the early 20th century, interviewed in 1986

full record »

Mrs Evelyn Chapple was born in 1896 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers hazards encountered while walking to school.
Transcript

EVELYN: We had to go to school every day, it was a long walk for us, but we used to go across a paddock where there were a lot of bullocks that belonged to the slaughter yard. I'd have to run across the paddock, call the dog first, the dog belonging to our place, and it would come and chase the cattle away whilst we ran across. The biggest trouble though was the sheep. There were rams and they go for you. I used to - because I was very strong - I used to get them by the horns and hold them, push them backwards to the other side of the fence, and my brother would jump over the fence. And then he'd catch hold of the horns of the sheep and I'd jump over then. It was a funny old life.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Evelyn Chapple in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Retired wharf labourer Harry Black talking about transporting circus elephants in the 1950s

full record »

By

Courtesy:

City of Sydney Council

(from the oral history collection)

Thelma Crawley on delivering Meals on Wheels to Rosaleen Norton, the 'Witch of Kings Cross' 2007

full record »

By

Courtesy:

City of Sydney Council

(From the oral history collection)

Tim Pearson on Sydney's bats 2009

full record »

By

Courtesy:

City of Sydney Council

Natural Environment

Horses

Insects